The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I have a very late Victor II with an aluminum ID tag, and the double spring motor. This is probably from 1917. It has a No. 2 reproducer and plays very loud. I was very lucky to get this machine. Before that, I would use a late VV VI or a VV IX. For my cylinder machine, my Amberola 30.
Harvey Kravitz

The best sounding WW I era machine that I have would be the Edison Amberola 30.

A steady-speed Edison with a big horn & an excellent record will beat anything of the WWI era. Fireside+Diamond B+Cygnet, Triumph+Model O+Music Master, or even a perfect Amberola V are the best.

I would second the opinion that a good C-250, or any other of the Laboratory Models, with a good condition DD from 1914-15 (or a paper label from the '20s, since we are being inclusive), will blow pretty much any other machine of that period out of the water...

Bill

My C-19 is my best sounding machine.

Assuming good condition records, probably my Triumph, Amberola 1A, or C-19.

My Credenza is outstanding, of course, but it was made well beyond the WW1 era under discussion here.

Clay

I'll cast my vote for any period Edison Diamond Disc Phonograph with a "250" size horn. Of course, my C250 is my all-time favorite!

George Pauls' Amberola V is a very close second in my opinion, but it took a very late electrically dubbed Blue Amberol to sound that good, so it's out of the realm of WWI. BUT, it illustrates just how good this model can sound, and I'm sure this trend would extend to the other gear driven Amberola models in perfect working order.

Fran

Great discussion! It appears Edison is the overwhelming preference.... I may have to pick "one" up for comparison to the Victrola....

I guess my Diamond Disc players need some attention in the reproducer department... neither of my C-19's nor my S-19 would exactly "blow the doors off" my 1909 L-door, or 1918 XI with #2 / fat-arm. ( Although the S-19 was the best over-all sounding of my DD players.)

If you're going for internal-horn machines, the larger-horned Victrolas sound pretty good, eg: improved XVI, XIV, even the XI is pretty good. A large Grafonola can sound very nice too. I have a lovely Grafonola Deluxe circa 1915 that sounds very nice.

I think the records have a lot to do with it too...

I do not have many classical DD's at all, and no opera except for an etched label recording of the Barcarolle from "Tales of Hoffmann"... I would not rate it above a comparable Victor either in terms of recording or performance quality.

As for Edison cylinder players, my experience is limited to Homes and Standards, from the 1904-1908 period, with C and H reproducers, and straight horns (witch's hat through 30" all-brass and H&S silk-lined horns), and the only "classical" I have are band transcriptions.

My experiences with the cylinder equipment are that they can be fussy... flutter, warble, bogging part-way through a 4-minute cylinder, Amberol-splitting, etc.

From what I've read here, and observed on You-tube, "if you have a good one", the cylinder set-ups can sound very good indeed, especially with the larger reproducers and cygnet horns...

I guess the challenge is "getting a good one" (machine, and record).

I've had better success personally with Victrolas and Grafonolas, in terms of reliable, pleasant play-back...


I'm not giving-up on cylinder players - but I have a lot to learn about getting them / keeping them "happy".

Just one guy's experience, for what it's worth...

De Soto Frank wrote:From what I've read here, and observed on You-tube, "if you have a good one", the cylinder set-ups can sound very good indeed, especially with the larger reproducers and cygnet horns...

I agree with others that a Diamond Disc machine sounds the best for that time period, provided you have a clean record and rebuilt reproducer. They have greater volume and fidelity than a cylinder machine, but the surface noise of a clean Blue Amberol can be substantially less and overall be more enjoyable because of it.

Any Edison cylinder phonograph that has a diamond reproducer and large horn has a potential to sound very good. The belt-driven machines have more potential for flutter though. Even a lowly Amberola 30 motor can be regulated to run smoothly. I once jury-rigged a large morning glory horn to an Amberola 30 and was impressed how it sounded as good as anything more exotic.